VILLA PARK — Villa Park pitcher Zach Brown was 5-2 with a 2.96 ERA last season as a junior.
He struck out 39 with only nine walks in 47.1 innings.
Brown seems much better so far in his senior year.
Brown struck out six with no walks while allowing four hits and one earned run Friday as the Spartans defeated Foothill 3-2 in a Crestview League baseball opener at Villa Park.
The Spartans, No. 2 in the Orange County Top 25, improved to 8-1, while Foothill, ranked No. 5 in the county, dropped to 6-4.
Villa Park coach Burt Call said a difference between last season, when Brown was All-Orange County second team as a utility player, and this season is the power of Brown’s fastball.
“He worked hard in the offseason to increase his velocity,” Call said. “He’s still got a high ceiling to get where he wants to go.”
Brown, who signed with Ohio State, said he relied on his high-speed stuff Friday.
“Today I didn’t have an off-speed pitch,” said Brown, who is 3-0 with a 0.81 ERA, 26 strikeouts and one walk in 17.1 innings. “I just attacked and went with the fastball. I trusted my defense, and that’s the name of the game.”
Villa Park senior catcher Nathan Pone was 3 for 3 with an RBI. Senior shortstop Gavin Grahovac, last season’s Orange County player of the year, had two hits, scored a run and drove in a runr. Senior center fielder Geoff McArhtur drove in the other Villa Park run.
Foothill senior right-hander Andrew Parker pitched seven innings and allowed two earned runs. He went into the game with a 3-0 record and a 0.27 ERA.
Grahovac, who signed with Texas A&M and is projected to be an early-round MLB draft pick, led off the bottom of the first inning and smacked the first pitch he saw up the middle for a single. Running on a pitch, Grahovac advanced to second base on Josh Santangelo’s ground out and scored on McArthur’s line single to center for a 1-0 lead.
In the Villa Park second inning, UC Santa Barbara-signed AJ Krodel singled, went to…
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